Derrick Rose LAPD rape case investigator found dead in LA County home

A detective investigating the criminal case against NBA player Derrick Rose was found dead in a Los Angeles County home on Tuesday.

According to the Los Angeles Times, 44-year-old officer Nadine Hernandez died of a gunshot wound which may have been self-inflicted. The Los Angeles Police Department found her body in a Whittier, California, home while investigating an attempted suicide report they received around 2:45 p.m. Pacific. They have yet to determine whether or not the death was a suicide.

Hernandez, a member of the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division Special Assault Section, was one of two investigators looking into the rape allegations against Rose. The basketball player is currently at the center of a civil case after a woman he'd dated non-exclusively for two years — identified as Jane Doe — alleged that he and two of his friends drugged and raped her in 2013.

U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald — who is hearing the case against Rose — recently ruled that Rose's accuser could not remain anonymous in court. One of Doe's attorneys appealed the decision after the trial began, filing a formal request that included a letter from Hernandez, the Times reported.

In the letter, Hernandez argued that ensuring a victim's privacy is "an invaluable investigative aid to investigators." Fitzgerald ultimately ruled that Doe's real name could be used in court, but the police (and Mic) will continue to withhold it.